Society

Railway resumes two hours after Xinjiang quake

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-08 15:32

URUMQI - Railway services on two pivotal routes in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region were suspended for two hours after a 5.3-magnitude earthquake Wednesday morning, local authorities said.

Passenger and cargo trains were halted in the Urumqi-Turpan section of the Lanxin Railway, a pivotal link between Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi and Lanzhou of the northwestern Gansu province, and the Turpan section of Nanjiang Railway, which links Turpan with Korla in southern Xinjiang, the Urumqi Railway Bureau said in a press release.

Services resumed at around 12:30 pm, after thorough safety checks along the routes, it said.

There was no apparent damage to the railways, and railway workers had conducted safety inspections of all tunnels, bridges and communication systems, it said.

The quake hit Toksun county of Turpan prefecture at 9:53 am Beijing Time Wednesday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter was monitored at 43.0 degrees north latitude and 88.3 degrees east longitude with a depth of about five kilometers.

No casualties or damages were reported.